What Is A Secondary Source For A Research Paper?

by | Last updated on January 24, 2024

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Secondary sources were created by someone who did not experience first-hand or participate in the events or conditions you’re researching. For a historical research project, secondary sources are generally

scholarly books and articles

. A secondary source interprets and analyzes primary sources.

How do you write a secondary source for a research paper?

  1. Support your thesis. One of the most basic things you can do with secondary sources is to find somebody who agrees with the argument you’re making. …
  2. Present opposing viewpoints. A thesis is only interesting if it’s open to interpretation. …
  3. Provide background information.

What is an example of a secondary source?

Secondary sources describe, summarize, or discuss information or details originally presented in another source; meaning the author, in most cases, did not participate in the event. … Examples of a secondary source are:

Publications such as textbooks, magazine articles, book reviews, commentaries, encyclopedias, almanacs

.

What is a good secondary source example?

  • journal articles that comment on or analyse research.
  • textbooks.
  • dictionaries and encyclopaedias.
  • books that interpret, analyse.
  • political commentary.
  • biographies.
  • dissertations.
  • newspaper editorial/opinion pieces.

Is a research paper a primary or secondary source?


Primary Sources

are immediate, first-hand accounts of a topic, from people who had a direct connection with it. Primary sources can include: Texts of laws and other original documents. Newspaper reports, by reporters who witnessed an event or who quote people who did.

What is the difference between primary source and secondary source?

Primary sources are firsthand, contemporary accounts of events created by individuals during that period of time or several years later (such as correspondence, diaries, memoirs and personal histories). … Secondary sources often use

generalizations, analysis, interpretation, and synthesis of primary sources

.

What are the 3 sources of information?

This guide will introduce students to three types of resources or sources of information:

primary, secondary, and tertiary

.

What is a secondary source in academic writing?

Secondary Sources are

analyses based on the author’s own reading of existing primary sources

. Scholarly works use peer-reviewed academic sources, such as journal articles, books, and book chapters for research.

What is a secondary source in an essay?

A secondary source, then, is

a source that has also done analysis of the same (or a similar) topic

. You will then use this source to discuss how it relates to your argument about the primary source. A secondary source is a mediary between you and the primary source.

What are primary and secondary sources in academic writing?

A primary source gives you direct access to the subject of your research.

Secondary sources provide second-hand information and commentary from other researchers

. Examples include journal articles, reviews, and academic books. A secondary source describes, interprets, or synthesizes primary sources.

How do you identify secondary sources?

  1. the online catalog,
  2. the appropriate article databases,
  3. subject encyclopedias,
  4. bibliographies,
  5. and by consulting with your instructor.

What is the difference between primary and secondary data?

Primary data refers to the first hand data gathered by the researcher himself.

Secondary data means data collected by someone else earlier

. Surveys, observations, experiments, questionnaire, personal interview, etc. Government publications, websites, books, journal articles, internal records etc.

What are the 5 sources of information?

  • Books.
  • Encyclopedias.
  • Magazines.
  • Databases.
  • Newspapers.
  • Library Catalog.
  • Internet.

What is an example of a primary source?

Primary sources are original materials, regardless of format.

Letters, diaries, minutes, photographs, artifacts, interviews, and sound or video recordings

are examples of primary sources created as a time or event is occurring.

How do you know if it is a primary source?

Primary Sources. A primary source provides

direct or firsthand evidence

about an event, object, person, or work of art. … Published materials can be viewed as primary resources if they come from the time period that is being discussed, and were written or produced by someone with firsthand experience of the event.

Is a birth certificate a primary source?

A birth certificate is

a primary source document

, which could later be amended, but the original should never be changed. A primary source in this regard is a document, which was written by a person who was in attendance at the event being documented at the time it happened.

Emily Lee
Author
Emily Lee
Emily Lee is a freelance writer and artist based in New York City. She’s an accomplished writer with a deep passion for the arts, and brings a unique perspective to the world of entertainment. Emily has written about art, entertainment, and pop culture.